Winter
by Arauru
Summary: Ike takes a walk through the snow. An Ike Marth oneshot.


It was cold.

Colder than any other winter he had witnessed in his life; seasons in this new place, this new home, were so unfamiliar to him. Small snowflakes calmly drifted through the air and landed neatly in his scruffy hair; a cool, gentle breeze had messed it around a little, though it was ignored. The atmosphere seemed almost dead, and little was to be heard in the calm silence around him. And it was white - so white it could make anyone stand out for miles if they dared to venture out into the thick snow.

He, of course, was one of those 'ones'. His large boots, made especially for such weather, clumped through the soft snow and disappeared from eyes sight. He took full awareness of the cold that climbed up his legs; despite his carefully chosen clothes not even the finest of fabric would be able to completely shun out the biting frost. He was not complaining, however, as it was to be expected; he had never seen so much snow in his life, and he wasn't one to miss the opportunity to let it slip away.

The tall, young man could see no-one. He pictured the scenery: smashers, of all shapes and sizes, huddled around the warmth of the main lounge fireplace, whilst they enjoyed their late hours with a hot cup of chocolate, and sharing tales of their past adventures with keen interest. Some would occasionally look out the close-by window, and make a comment or two about 'how fine the snow is this year.' He'd heard that this happened almost every year in the Smash world, but he had not been around to see it like everyone else. Not even the Daein country sides seemed at all like this at the time.

Gloved hands were lifted and rubbed together; his breaths could be seen in the cold air and he continued trotting on in the snow with no destination in mind. It was dark, the end of the day nearing. This bothered him not. The snow would probably be gone soon, and there was no other time that he was not scheduled to do 'this and that.' The skies – and the fading hall lights of the smash manor - were light enough for him to tell where exactly he was going, yet he did not know where 'there' was. Right foot lifted, left foot dropped. He watched with some sort of fascination a child would when first learning to walk.

Finally, after a moment or two, he finally halted in his movements. Feet sinking into the white below, his head lifted to stare at the darkening sky above him. The silence returned, and he could hear nothing but his own breaths. It was a sight to behold, he decided, and was glad that he was capable of just witnessing something as beautiful as Mother Nature's winters. He could see stars just beginning to come into view; various random ones dotted all around him. A hand lifted in an upwards direction, as if reaching for them, and the owner gave a sad smile while memories poured back into mind.

"Goddess…" a deep voice murmured lowly, "how fortunate I am to be here, alive and safe…please, let everyone be well. For my sake."

This moment, all alone in the snow, he was perfectly willing to be himself for the first time in ages.

--

The house was once again coming into view as he ambled his way back home– at this point the sky was now dark blue; the faint lights from the house illuminated the area and he envisioned a warm welcome ahead of him, his friends, family, waiting to help him relax and prepare to sleep with dreams of another day. That was gone now- only a memory- and he had to remind himself that not all smashers were that easy to get along with.

It had stopped snowing a while ago, but the snow underneath him had no intention of disappearing any time soon. His eyes shifted to the left, and then back to look forth at the place he now called home. He vaguely wondered what Pit was up to, the angel telling him earlier that he despised the cold because it affected his wings. He felt sympathy for the little angel, but secretly he was happy, because it meant he could have time alone to think about things that he'd been longing to for a while now. His roommate, Marth, had also disappeared earlier that day. So he was free to wander as he pleased without question. Words would only distract him.

He looked for his room window; it was in a high place, but he was successful. The lights were still switched off, which told him that no-one had returned there since he left an hour or two ago. The man almost dreaded returning to the house, as the cold air around him had stopped bothering him a while back and seemed almost…comforting. He slipped his hands into his coat pockets and just stared at the tall structured manor, eyes gazing but taking nothing in particular into mind.

Had he forgotten his hat and his head went numb, he doubted he would have felt the sudden coldness on the back of his head. He heard a soft 'thump' and turned, almost surprised without show. Standing a few feet away was a man of similar build and height, soft blue eyes gazing back into his with an almost cheeky glint. The other was smiling widely; seemingly glad to have smacked the other over the head with a snowball.

"Well, Ike, they say surprise is not a common emotion of yours. I suppose I'm the first to see it!" The victim only nodded slowly, hand rising to wipe away the snow that still remained on his hat.

"I wouldn't have imagined you to be this childish, _prince_. You're meant to make good impressions."

"I deserve a little fun, at least," the reply, smoothly spoken, drifted through the air and reached the man's ears. The prince watched, the smirk on his face never fading. "Besides, what impression could I possibly make that would affect you?"

In response, the mercenary only knelt on the soft snow and gathered a clump snugly into his hands. "Not a lot, I guess." Finally, a small smile appeared on Ike's face. "If it's play you want, I'm ready to fight back." And from this, a small skirmish began, as the prince's laughs echoed through the air. He was vaguely aware of how silly they must look, two fully grown men running through the snow exchanging blows, but it was pushed aside. It was the last thing he needed to care about right now. He cared not what others should think.

He eventually managed to hit the prince across the torso- Marth was extremely swift and flexible, the snow falling from its place and landing back onto the ground from whence it came. The laughs never faded, even as he bowed down to grab at some more snow to throw at the other. He was having fun too, Ike realised. To see the prince in such a good state always cheered him up no matter what mood he himself was in.

After a few minutes to throwing and receiving, the snow war finally ended. Marth took a clumsy step closer and rested a friendly, cold hand on Ike's shoulder, shaking his head in an amused manner. "My, _General_ Ike, you're being awfully childish for a man your age."

"Is that a retort? Cause if it is..."

"You're too funny." The hand left its place, and Ike almost wished it hadn't. The coldness had a sense of warmth behind it, and it was good to know that someone was still there for him. He shrugged his shoulders – the place where he had been touched- and pulled at the front of his jacket.

"You've got snow on your head."

"Oh, do I?" It was a casual reply.

"Yeah. People will start to think you're throwing snowballs around." Marth laughed, "Oh, but I am! And what joy it would be to announce that it was cold, distant Ike that was all so happy to hit me with them!"

"You wouldn't really do that to me." Ike replied, pulling a mock-sad face. He brushed his thick gloves through Marth's hair and only succeeded in getting more snow in it. "I thought I was your friend. You're so mean, _Marthie-kins_."

"You're one to talk, Ike." Marth laughed and linked arms with the mercenary, who raised an eyebrow. "If we're going to face the nosey-crowd, then we shall do so together! That's what friends do, is it not?"

"Y'know, I'm starting to think you planned on this all along." Ike muttered. Marth smiled.

"You're daft. I was only out looking to see if my roommate had his key at the ready. You remember last night you disappeared without telling anyone. You were locked outside for 4 hours in the pouring rain. I bet the carpet is still soaking!"

"And yet, even after all this rain, such a beautiful scenery came about…"

"Ah, well, you'll be seeing more of this in the years to come. We usually build huge snowballs and have wars nearer the time of 'Christmas'. The festivities are strange to me, but I think you'll enjoy it." Ike pictured the scene, and came to a conclusion that maybe spending time with the others wouldn't be that bad afterall.

"…Let's hope you're right, prince." Ike watched as his friend – one of his only friends at the manor- pulled him along in the snow, a 'let's go inside' resounding in his ear, and he looked backwards to see double footprints engraving into the pure white ground beneath him. From where Marth could not see, he smiled fondly at the scene.

This time of winter, he would not be alone. And he was eternally grateful for it.


End file.
